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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the narrator say is the manuscript mark for italic type?

2. What does the narrator say a man could do with a mannequin?

3. What does Ambrose’s father do for a living?

4. Over what does Ambrose’s mother chide his father?

5. What church does Ambrose try to join when he finds out he is not baptized?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Ambrose feel after what he sees at the boardwalk, and what does he want to do? What comment does Magda make about Ambrose’s condition?

2. How does Ambrose feel about the Funhouse on the way home, and what does Uncle Karl do about the whole affair?

3. Describe Uncle Karl and Peter.

4. What is the truth about Magda’s question that Ambrose does not tell her?

5. How does Magda react to Ambrose taking her arm, and what does he want to tell her?

6. How do the people in the car pass the time during the trip?

7. What does Uncle Karl say will change the holiday for the family this year and why has this occured?

8. What happens to Ambrose’s father the first day, and what does his father have to do about it?

9. What does Ambrose remember of a cigar box his Uncle Karl has?

10. What does Peter do when everyone falls to the floor, and how does Magda react to Peter’s behavior?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

During the car ride Ambrose remembers a time when, three years previously, Peter, Magda and himself played Niggers and Masters.

Discuss how the game relates to the era and place in which this story takes place. Use examples from the text to support your answer.

Essay Topic 2

One of the key elements in any funhouse is the hall of mirrors where visitors see images of themselves in strange and unfamiliar shapes.

Discuss the ways in which Ambrose becomes even more aware of himself when he is in the mirror room of the funhouse. Use examples from the text to support your answer.

Essay Topic 3

When Ambrose is below the boardwalk he hears his family laughing above him. The narrator comments that if Ambrose was not old enough or smart enough to understand the joke he could have said: “The laughter was over his head.” Discuss what the author is attempting to do by including this commentary by the narrator about wordplay.

(see the answer keys)

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